Milwaukee man killed neighbor over money, sentenced to prison

MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man convicted of shooting his neighbor over money in 2023 has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Kenneth Burrows, 34, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree reckless homicide. Court records show, in addition to prison time, he was sentenced on Thursday to eight years of extended supervision. 

The victim, 31-year-old Victor Gillespie, was shot near 25th and Congress on Feb. 20, 2023. According to a criminal complaint, he was found at the top of the staircase leading to the second floor of his home with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest.

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Gillespie’s feet were in the entryway to a bathroom, per the complaint, where police found one bullet casing in the bathtub. On the second floor, one of the bedroom doors appeared to have been forced open.

The complaint states a witness said she was at Gillespie’s home that night when Burrows, who lived next door, showed up and demanded money that Gillespie owed him. Gillespie said he would pay him “tomorrow.” The witness said she stayed downstairs in the kitchen while the men went upstairs. According to prosecutors, she said she heard stomping, followed by a gunshot, and something then hit the floor.

Burrows then came downstairs and told the witness she should call an ambulance, the complaint said. She told police he had a gun in his hand. Her phone was upstairs, so she went to get it, and the complaint said she told police she heard Gillespie take his last breath.